"Avalanche's(Single Gang Dominated Two-third Phishing Attacks in 2009)

A group of sophisticated and proficient hackers known as the "Avalanche" gang was responsible for setting up and operating more than two-thirds of the 126,000-plus fake Web sites designed to steal Internet users' credit card numbers, bank account information and infect their PCs with malware. Through the use of sophisticated malware and phishing tactics, the group was singlehandedly responsible for the ominous increase in worldwide phishing attacks in the last six months of 2009, according to a report (PDF format) released by the Anti-Phishing Working Group, a consortium of Web retailing, software, security and financial firms.

Researchers said the Avalanche group is by far the world's most prolific phishing operation because its members managed to perfect a two-pronged system that simultaneously deploys mass-producing phishing sites while also distributing malware that gives the crooks even more tools to pull off their scams.

"The data shows that the anti-phishing community -- including the target institutions, security responders, and domain name registries and registrars -- got very good at identifying and shutting down Avalanche's attacks on a day-to-day basis," said Rod Rasmussen, founder and CTO of Internet Identity and a co-author of the report.